Former New Hampshire State Senator Andy Sanborn Pleads Guilty Over $250,000 in Misused COVID-19 Relief Funds

Andy Sanborn, the former New Hampshire state senator and owner of Concord Casino, has pleaded guilty to diverting $250,000 of COVID-19 relief money for personal use. For operators and PSPs in charitable gaming and other high-risk verticals, the useful part is not the courtroom theater but the mechanics: once regulators and prosecutors start tracing relief funds, casino licenses and banking relationships tend to collapse fast.

1. According to the US Attorney’s Office, Sanborn received $844,000 in relief funds during the pandemic and said the money would support Concord Casino. Federal investigators later concluded that more than $250,000 was misused, including a reported purchase of a luxury car.
2. The case surfaced in 2023, when New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella filed formal charges against Sanborn and his wife. The investigation brought in the FBI, the IRS, and the US Postal Inspection Service, which is a reminder that these cases can move well beyond a single state agency once fraud allegations touch public money and casino operations.
3. In 2024, New Hampshire moved to revoke Sanborn’s casino license and declared him unfit to conduct charitable gaming. Concord Casino then tried to sell the business, but the effort failed and the venue closed its doors. In practice, the regulatory response came first and the commercial outcome followed.
4. Sanborn pleaded guilty to Theft of Government Funds, an offense that usually carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the misappropriated amount. Prosecutor Alexander Chen said the plea agreement reduces that to roughly 10 months in prison, plus full repayment of the funds with interest.
5. The plea agreement reportedly also removes criminal liability for Concord Casino and Sanborn’s wife. A separate lawsuit from the Attorney General’s Office still accuses Sanborn of manipulating the business’s financial details to obtain increased relief funds, with trial expected in early 2027.

For high-risk payment teams, the relevant signal is simple: once a gaming operator is tagged as unfit by state officials, the banking problem becomes a regulatory problem and then a continuity problem. Concord Casino is now closed, the property is stuck in limbo, and Sanborn is out on bail but barred from leaving the country.